Tesla is under criminal investigation over claims that its cars can drive themselves, according to a bombshell report. The Reuters news service attributes the claim to “three people familiar with the matter.”
“The U.S. Department of Justice launched the previously undisclosed probe last year following more than a dozen crashes, some of them fatal,” the report says. The company’s Autopilot driver assistance system was reportedly engaged during the accidents.
One of Reuters’ three sources reports that this probe is “competing with two other DOJ investigations involving Tesla.”
So-called “self-driving” cars are a controversial and confusing topic. Some perspective may help make sense of the news.
There are No Self-Driving Cars
First things first, there are no self-driving cars for sale in the United States.
Self-driving cars are all over the news. But, outside a few limited areas, they’re not sharing the roads with you yet.
Automakers and tech companies are testing them under limited circumstances, but few are on public roads. Notably, General Motors now operates fewer than 100 driverless taxis under the Cruise brand name in downtown San Francisco during daylight hours only. But you can’t buy a car that will drive itself.
What you can buy today, in a handful of cars, is a system designed to take some workload from the driver under limited conditions.
Automakers use a five-level framework from SAE International, a global association of engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive, and commercial-vehicle industries, to describe self-driving systems.
Related: Self-Driving Cars – Everything You Need to Know
At Level 1, a car can briefly intervene to assist a driver with their hands still on the wheel. Lane-centering systems that help you stay in the center of your lane, for instance, are a Level 1 technology.
At Level 2, cars have more than one Level 1 system, and they can work simultaneously. Many cars par an adaptive cruise control system that can keep a set distance from the car ahead with a lane-centering system.
At Level 2, the driver must stay alert and be ready to take over in a split second at all times.
The most sophisticated systems for sale today, including Tesla’s, are considered Level 2 systems.
Tesla’s Three Systems
Tesla today sells three automation systems. The company’s lawyers have told regulators that all three are Level 2 systems.
Autopilot is standard equipment on every Tesla vehicle. It uses a smart cruise control to match the car to the speed of the surrounding traffic and a lane-centering function to help keep the car in the center of its lane.
Enhanced Autopilot is a $6,000 option on all Tesla vehicles. It has the same features as Autopilot but adds the ability to navigate highway on- and off-ramps without driver input, navigate highway interchanges, and suggest lane changes. It also includes a self-parking system and a “summon” function, letting owners call the car from across a parking lot.
Full Self-Driving is now a $15,000 option. Tesla says it will read and react to traffic lights and stop signs and steer around some turns with the driver’s “active supervision.” Tesla also says Full Self-Driving is in “beta testing” and requires owners to sign a complex waiver to engage it.
Studies Show People Trust These Systems Too Much
There’s evidence that people over-rely on these driver assistance systems. A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, for instance, recently found that 42% of Tesla Autopilot users and 54% of users of GM’s Super Cruise software “said that they were comfortable treating their vehicles as fully self-driving.”
Users reported eating and texting behind the wheel. All of today’s driver assistance systems have methods that monitor the driver and warn them to pay attention to the road when they don’t seem to be. Forty percent of users in the IIHS study reported that their systems had locked them out at some point for repeatedly not paying attention to the road.
Safety Advocates: Names Are a Problem
You may have noticed that the system’s actual functions are a little less impressive than the names sound.
Names are a problem, according to safety advocates.
A coalition of car safety groups recently came together to ask the auto industry to agree on standard names for driver assistance systems.
Autopilot doesn’t pilot the car for you, they say. Full Self-Driving isn’t.
Advertising Can Contradict Legalese
Names may be the heart of the Department of Justice’s investigation.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles recently asked a court to intervene over what it claims is Tesla’s false advertising.
Reuters reports, “As early as 2016, Tesla’s marketing materials have touted Autopilot’s capabilities. On a conference call that year, Elon Musk, the Silicon Valley automaker’s chief executive, described it as ‘probably better’ than a human driver.”
A video still available on the company’s website this morning says, “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”
The same company that tells regulators its cars aren’t self-driving sometimes tells car shoppers they are. Sources told Reuters that federal agents “are examining whether Tesla misled consumers, investors and regulators by making unsupported claims about its driver assistance technology’s capabilities, the sources said.”
Tesla is the Poster Child
Tesla is not the only automaker marketing a system like Autopilot. General Motors has Super Cruise. Ford has BlueCruise. Nissan has Pro Pilot360. Subaru has EyeSight.
Each has its own quirks — many work only on certain pre-mapped roads.
But all are Level 2 systems like Autopilot.
Tesla, however, has become the focal point of public discussions over partial automation. Its advertising claims are more aggressive than most. It has sold more cars with Level 2 systems than any other. And its legion of fans is more vocal.
A federal law requires automakers to report crashes that may have involved driver assistance systems to the government. As of June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported it had received 392 reports. Nearly seventy percent of them – 273 crashes – involved Tesla’s systems.
Honda reported 90. No other automaker had more than 10.
This Could Go Nowhere
Reuters reports, “the Justice Department investigation potentially represents a more serious level of scrutiny because of the possibility of criminal charges against the company or individual executives.”
Investigators could also, however, close the case without charging anyone.
“Investigators still have much work to do, and no decision on charges is imminent,” one source told the news agency.
Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney who has prosecuted automakers, told Reuters that investigators would need to prove that Tesla executives mislead the public “on purpose.” Tesla could argue that disclaimers on its website prove that isn’t the case.
That may be a high bar to cross. It may also explain why, according to Reuters, the Justice Department’s probe is limited to Autopilot and not Full Self-Driving. Drivers must sign a waiver to engage Full Self-Driving, but not Autopilot.
